Sick Around the World

Why do you think Sick Around the World ends with the example of Switzerland? What do the Swiss have in common with Americans?

How was health care insurance provided in Switzerland in 1994 before reform?

What was the margin of victory for the new plan, LAMal, in 1994?

Is the support level for LAMal higher now? Why or why not?

What health care can people covered by the Swiss system take for granted?

Can insurance companies in Switzerland deny coverage to the old, the sick or the poor?

If people are unable to pay the $750 monthly family premium, who pays it?

If insurance companies in Switzerland cannot profit on basic care, how can they make a profit?

What is the main challenge Swiss insurance companies face today?

The administration costs for health insurance in the United States are 22% of total amount spent on health care. What is the comparable percentage at one insuranc company in Switzerland?

Pascal Couchepin, the conservative president of the Swiss Federation, concludes that a 100 percent free-market system (the model in the United States) cannot work for health care because it means "losing solidarity and equal access," which he calls "a basic value of living in [Swiss] society." Do you think Americans see "solidarity and equal access" as basic values? Why or why not?

"Everyone has the right to health care," asserts Pascal Couchepin, the president of the Swiss Federation. Do you agree?